IT WAS a fifth consecutive victory for the Townsville Fire in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL), this time defeating the Adelaide Lightning by an impressive 26 points when the two sides went head to head.

In the final game of Round 6 for the 2025/26 season, the Lightning hosted the Fire at the South Australia State Basketball Centre, with both sides coming off a win. The Lightning had held on for a six-point win over the Geelong Venom, while the Fire had recorded a hefty victory over the UC Capitals and have been one of the form teams of the competition.

Unfortunately for the home side on Tuesday night, they were no match for a rampaging Townsville unit that is gearing up for a championship crack, as the Fire recorded their seventh win from eight games to stay atop the standings.

Adelaide Lightning (64) def. by Townsville Fire (90)

Although the Fire were heavily favoured coming into the clash, they were challenged in the first couple of quarters, with the Lightning staying in touch with the ladder leaders. The Fire did maintain their lead over the course of the first term – largely thanks to some paint dominance from Alicia Froling – they only led by seven points at quarter time.

The Lightning kept in touch for most of the second term, doing well to cut the margin to five points after the first change and keeping up with Townsville’s production. However, seven unanswered points from the Fire steadied the ship, and the visitors still managed to push their margin out to 11 points at half-time, still in control of the contest despite Adelaide’s best efforts.

The third frame broke the game open, with the Fire showing why they are the team to beat over the first six weeks of the season. Townsville outscored the home side 22-9 in the third period, and looked completely dominant coming out of half-time. The Fire did exactly as they pleased and essentially sealed the result by holding a 24-point buffer at the final change and silencing the home crowd.

The Fire’s signature pick-and-roll offence was too much for the Lightning to contain, while every Adelaide possession was under immense pressure as Townsville picked up the hosts full court and did not allow the opposition any easy baskets. In the end, the Fire were able to cruise home to a comfortable win and remain title favourites.

Froling led from the front with a terrific display for Townsville, going a perfect 7/7 from the field to finish with 22 points for the match to go with 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks in a captain’s display. Miela Sowah was also impressive with 21 points of her own, showing how dangerous she can be on the offensive end as well.

Lightning import Sania Feagin fought valiantly for the home side, finishing with a team-high 18 points as she tried to spark something for Adelaide, while captain Stephanie Talbot had 11 points, five rebounds and five assists in a solidly balanced display.